A Conversation With

Diálogo visited the Paraguayan Navy’s facilities in Asunción and met with its commander, Admiral Carlos Dionisio Velázquez Moreno, to talk about the challenges and achievements of the institution responsible for safeguarding and defending the country’s water resources.

Air Force General Eladio Casimiro González Aguilar, commander of the Paraguayan Military Forces, met with Diálogo at his headquarters to discuss his goals and the unprecedented deployment of operational capabilities to support State institutions involved in the efforts to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since August 2018, a woman with an inclusive vision has been at the helm of the Paraguayan Vice Ministry of National Defense. It is Colonel (ret.) Gladys Pecci, who is committed to strengthening women’s empowerment programs in the Paraguayan Armed Forces. Col. Pecci met with Diálogo at her ministerial office to discuss gender and human rights issues in the military forces.

Army General (ret.) Bernardino Soto Estigarribia, Paraguayan minister of Defense, met with Diálogo at the Ministry of National Defense to talk about the progress of the Military Forces and their projects for the future.

Diálogo met with General Manuel Jesús Martín Gómez de la Torre Araníbar, chief of the Peruvian Armed Forces’ Joint Command (CCFFAA, in Spanish) to discuss military advances in the fight against criminal organizations.

Lieutenant Colonel Pilot María Tejada Quintana, age 38, has set a milestone in her country’s aviation history by becoming the first female pilot to lead the Dominican Air Force Combat Squadron. Diálogo spoke with Lt. Col. Tejada about her achievements in her country’s aviation history.

When she graduated with a Mass Communications degree (journalist) from the Externado University of Colombia in 1994, young Jhasmin Mora Cuellar knew exactly what she wanted to do in life. That’s why, two years later, she enrolled in the General José María Córdova Military Academy, where she graduated as a Colombian Army officer in the administrative corps, a career that led her to her current position as chief of Strategic Communications at the Colombian Military Forces’ General Command. Prior to that, she served as press officer for the Army’s Fourth Brigade; she was co-founder of the first Counternarcotics Battalion in 1998, where she was part of the Psychological Operations Company with jurisdiction in the south of the country. She held the position of Communications officer for the Army’s Fourth Division, and was later assigned to the War College as editorial director of the Fuerzas Armadas magazine. To learn more about this officer’s career, Diálogo spoke with Col. Mora, whom her fellow brothers and sisters in arms consider to be one of the most competent and professional service members in the Colombian Military Forces.

On August 9, 2021, Lieutenant Colonel Andrea Silvana Díaz Bohórquez marked a milestone in the history of the Colombian Air Force, by becoming the first woman pilot-in-command of a C-130 Hercules aircraft. Lt. Col. Díaz, who has 22 years of military service, spoke with Diálogo about her achievements and her military career.

Five thousand nautical miles and nearly 30 days at sea — that’s the distance and time it took a Chilean submarine to travel from its home base in Talcahuano, Chile, to Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, to participate in the Diesel-Electric Submarine Initiative (DESI) with the U.S. Navy from June to September 2021.

The SS Carrera, a Chilean Navy Scorpène-class submarine, participated in the Diesel-Electric Submarine Initiative (DESI) exercise at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, which took place from June to September 2021.

Diálogo visited the installations of Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo) in Honduras to interview their commander, U.S. Army Colonel Steven E. Gventer.